Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Thursday that language as incendiary as President Trump’s warning to North Korea earlier this week has not been used since the last nuclear bomb was dropped on Japan.
In an appearance on MSNBC, the Connecticut Democrat chided Mr. Trump for vowing the U.S. would retaliate against any attack by North Korea with “fire and fury.”
“Not since Harry Truman has this kind of ’rain of ruin,’ I think those were Harry Truman’s words after the Hiroshima attack to pressure the Japanese into surrendering … in a threat of another nuclear attack, has any president used this kind of rhetoric,” the Connecticut Democrat said on MSNBC.
Mr. Blumenthal said that Mr. Trump should not have used such strong words without his national security team vetting them first.
“The hyperbole and over heated rhetoric raises questions about credibility,” he said. “And the fact that it was used and improvised without review or vetting of his national security team certainly raises questions about the process that is underway in the White House, a process that will involve the most serious decisions about war and peace.”
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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